


put up your dukes, let's get down to it

by flamebirds



Category: Batgirl (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Female Friendship, Gotham University, Missing Persons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:21:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27316207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamebirds/pseuds/flamebirds
Summary: According to the vigilante code of conduct, which is definitely a thing and not something they made up, Stephanie Brown is legally obligated to help Bette Kane. Especially when it involves free coffee and missing girls.
Relationships: Bette Kane & Stephanie Brown, Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain (implied)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 21





	put up your dukes, let's get down to it

The lock is pitifully easy for her to pick.

It just takes a hairpin, no complicated tools that she's brought along with her anyway, and she's inside Rachel Court's apartment. Her boyfriend, one of Bette's more normal friends, has been talking about how worried he is, how it isn't like her to just vanish like this and Bette... Bette's got a bad feeling.

She's learned by now to trust her instinct, so here she is, breaking into the apartment of a girl she only tangentially knows.

It's really not what she's supposed to be doing. Yeah, she's kept the suit, but that's... that's a memento. She's done with Flamebird, done with the whole vigilante schtick. She barely got out of the game with her life and she is not going back in, no matter what.

This is just a favour to a friend. It's not even vigilantism, really, just a tiny bit of detective work. And he's probably just freaking out over nothing. Rachel's probably fine and Bette's being her usual, dramatic self. 

She really wishes she could believe that. People always say that it's nice to dream and that Bette's always had her head up in the clouds, so she thinks she's entitled to mix both those things up for a fun little distraction from reality.

It's a very hard dream to hold onto the further she steps into the apartment. There's a clear sign of a struggle in the shattered vase, the overturned table, the splatter of blood against the beige wall. Something happened here and usually, that'd be enough. Bette would pull on her costume, kick a few people in the face and find some answers.

 _But._ This isn't usually. Bette's retired, for real this time, and she's not gonna let herself be dragged back into the world of vigilantes and the insanity they always bring with them. No, Flamebird has been laid to rest and Bette Kane is all that remains.

Bette Kane. Who can't punch people in the face without raising some eyebrows. Who can't follow any of her usual methods for solving a crime.

She could leave it to the police, but this is Gotham; that's as good as, if not worse, than leaving the whole thing alone. She could call Dick, but then he'd ask why she's not doing it herself and Bruce would be the same and she does not have the time nor the patience to explain her identity crisis to people who may have inadvertently fed into said identity crisis.

Being a former vigilante is _hard._

Bette leans against the wall, puffing out her cheeks and letting out a massive sigh. She's too pretty for this, whatever it may end up being. Murder, probably, because this is Gotham and the city likes to take the chance of a happy ending and tear it to pieces in front of her eyes, but maybe something else. Could be a cult. Wasn't one after Batwoman? 

She's pretty sure that there was. Or is, since bad guys have an annoying tendency to be persistent. They also seem morally opposed to the idea of sleep, in Bette's experience. (At least, opposed to _her_ getting sleep).

Now there's _this_ bullshit and a missing girl and it is honestly none of Bette's goddamn business. She's not a superhero, not by a long shot. She should burn that stupid spandex at this point, should forget the entire idea of being Flamebird, being Bat-Girl, the whole idiotic me━━

_Batgirl._

That's her answer. The hyphenless one that obviously lacks her style and panache but is an active vigilante. Babs had mentioned her before... Stephanie, Bette thinks. Stephanie White? Green? Definitely a colour. She'll ask Barbara about it.

And then she'll find Stephanie Undetermined-Colour and she'll have her deal with this mess. She goes here, anyway, so if somebody goes missing, it really is her business. And not Bette's. Very much not Bette's. 

Bette's business lies in textbooks and getting a doctorate and being a normal person. God knows somebody in the family has to be one.

So, yeah. Batgirl. Yet another in an ever-growing line to abandon the hyphen, not that Bette's mad about that, _oh no,_ that'd be petty. She can handle this, Bette can pretend that it never happened and Gotham City can rest knowing one of its many vigilantes took care of a serial killer.

Of course, it'd probably be a day until a new one crops up, but it's the thought that counts, right? Right.

All that really matters here is finding Rachel Court. Any crises of self or existence or any of the multitude of problems that Bette may have right now can wait until this disaster has been dealt with. After that's done, she can move onto her own internal catastrophe.

Then again, she might just ignore it and hope it goes away. The jury's still out on whether that's a healthy response, but, well, she hasn't even thought of her dead friends in, like, a whole week.

That thought doesn't count, not really, because technically, it's more of an observation than a thought. A mere note that, actually, she's been doing pretty good, if you ignore the fact that she's having an identity crisis in a maybe dead girl's apartment and she has to track down the current Batgirl and get her to look into this because if Bette just leaves this, it'll haunt her and she won't get sleep and she makes terrible decisions when she's sleep-deprived and she'll put the suit back on and ━━

Well. Let's just say she's trying to give it up for a reason.

* * *

Stephanie Brown is bored. And tired. And vaguely sure that a caffeine headache is building up behind her temples, but to solve that [particular problem, she'd have to get up from her seat and get a coffee and frankly, she doesn't have the motivation to do that.

Essays, she's decided, are draining her of her will to live.

There's a blonde woman walking in Stephanie's direction. She's a little too exhausted to think beyond that, to be honest, and Steph thinks that it's a little unfair how perfect she looks. There's not even a hair out of place even though Steph knows the wind outside is pretty bad (see: her own hair).

She's expecting her to keep on going, pass Steph by without a care in the world, because as far as she knows, they don't know each other. She recognizes everyone in her class and she's pretty sure that this lady isn't there and she hasn't exactly been on the social scene recently.

She blames Riddler for that one. Riddler and his stupid, over the top traps that are not fun to deal with, especially when you have to work with your ex-boyfriend who you're trying to interrogate about your ex- _something_ that ran away to Hong Kong and made you Batgirl in her wake.

"Batgirl, right?" The blonde says, flopping down in front of Stephanie with a flourish. She looks familiar, in the way her jaw sets, the structure of her nose, but Steph can't quite figure it out. Probably due to the killer combination of sleep deprivation, a lack of caffeine and looming deadlines.

"Uh", she says astutely, "no?"

Blondie levels her with an unimpressed glare. "I'm Bette", she says, like that explains anything. "And you're Batgirl."

"I'm not ━━"

Bette lets out an annoyed huff. "Seriously? You know, one day, there'll be a Batgirl who recognizes me and they'll be the _only_ one I respect."

"Should I recognize you?" Stephanie asks her. She's pretty sure she's seen her talking with Babs before... but she's also pretty sure that this girl is a student just like her. She could've been talking to her about anything, ranging from the less than legal practices that oh-so-many Gothamites choose to adopt to her grades. Impossible to tell, really.

Bette beams, the irritation slipping away in seconds. "Of course you should! I'm the original, you know ━━ before Babs thought it'd be fun to drop the hyphen. But, I haven't been Bat-Girl in years so I suppose it's a forgivable mistake."

"I didn't know there was a Batgirl before the red-head one", Stephanie says carefully.

"Bat-Girl", Bette corrects. "Please don't leave out the hyphen, which I guess doesn't matter, but you know how these things are. It's just annoying when people get it wrong... people don't tend to make that mistake with _Flamebird_ though."

Oh. _Oh..._ "I thought you retired."

"I did. I have", Bette says. "Which is where _you_ come in. Retired vigilantes can't exactly go investigating missing persons, but you know who _can_ do that? _Batgirl."_

"You want me to find somebody for you?"

She nods excitedly. "What's the point of having all these superhero connections if I can't abuse them a little, you know?"

"I don't think Batman would approve of that."

She gives a dismissive sort of huff. "I haven't cared what Batman thinks since I was a teenager."

 _Lucky,_ Steph thinks. "Who is that you want me to find?"

"Rachel Court", Bette says, pushing a manilla file towards her. "Sophmore, nineteen. Nice girl. Boyfriend's in my class, won't stop talking about she's vanished."

Stephanie takes the file with care. It's pretty much vigilante code of conduct to help each other out... right? Right. It's basic manners in this job.

"You're sure she's missing?" Steph checks.

"Positive", Bette says. "I checked out her apartment and it looks like there was a struggle."

"You could've brought this to Babs."

"I could've", she agreed. "But I've always had a soft spot for Batgirl."

Stephanie snorts. "I wonder why."

"A mystery that not even Batman could solve", she drawls. "Look, just check it out, okay? I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Not bad enough for you to come out of retirement", Stephanie points out, maybe a little meanly.

Bette doesn't seem to mind. "I'm trying this new thing called _letting go of the past._ Not sure it's for me yet, but I'll let you know what I find."

"Please do", Steph says. "I think the findings might prove vital to me."

Bette grins again, easy and laid back. "I knew you were the right person to go to."

Stephanie's not entirely convinced of that, but she doesn't say so, not when Bette is looking so utterly cool and confident.

"I checked out Rachel's apartment", she continues breezily. "Definitely a struggle. I'm thinking a kidnapping, from the lack of blood, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was killed at a different site."

"I thought you weren't looking into this?"

"I'm not!" Bette chirps back, a little brittlely. "Just, you know, had to make sure something was wrong. And there is. Something wrong, I mean, so I'd appreciate if you could go all Batgirl on this."

Stephanie nods slowly. "I'll need coffee."

"Free coffee for life", Bette promises, "if you find her."

And, well, how can a girl possibly say no to an offer like that?


End file.
